Recent Research By MPMRC Staff

2008 and the 1st half of 2009 saw the publication of the following works by Mashantucket Pequot Museum research staff.

Handsman, Russell G. "Landscapes of Memory in Wampanoag Country, and the Monuments Upon Them." In Archaeologies of Placemaking: Monuments, Memories, and Engagement in Native North America, edited by Patricia E. Rubertone. Walnut Creek, Calif. : Left Coast Press, c2008.
Online catalog record

Mancini, Jason R. "Beyond Reservation: Indians, Maritime Labor, and Communities of Color from Eastern Long Island Sound, 1713-1861." In Gender, Race, Ethnicity, and Power in Maritime America: Papers from the Conference Held at Mystic Seaport, September 2006, edited by Glenn S. Gordinier. Mystic, Conn. : Mystic Seaport, c2008.
Online catalog record

McBride, Kevin. "Pequot Medicine Bundle: Bundles, Bears, and Bibles: Interpreting Seventeenth-Century Native 'Texts'." In Early Native Literacies in New England : a Documentary and Critical Anthology, edited by Kristina Bross and Hilary E. Wyss. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, c2008.
Online catalog record

McBride, Kevin and David Naumec. Technical Report : Battlefield of Mystic Fort Documentation Plan. Mashantucket, Conn. : Mashantucket Pequot Museum & Research Center, 2009. Submitted to National Park Service American Battlefield Protection Program, March 1, 2009.
Online catalog record

Naumec, David J. "From Mashantucket to Appomattox: The Native American Veterans of Connecticut's Volunteer Regiments and the Union Navy" New England Quarterly, v.81:no.4 (Dec. 2008): 596-635
REFERENCE DESK: Article File

Naumec, David J. “Connecticut Indians in the War of Independence.” Connecticut History v.47:no.2 (Fall 2008): 181-218.
REFERENCE DESK: Article File

Listen Up: Online Audio

The following is a roundup of some of the interesting, and free, audio content currently available online that is relevant to the scope of our collections. For those just becoming familiar with online audio, a podcast is a series of audio programs in MP3 format that can be downloaded individually or subscribed to through a syndication feed (RSS). Streaming audio is audio content that you listen to on demand, usually directly through your web browser.

Historian David Naumec Discusses Connecticut Native American Military Involvment
Bill Fowler, Chair of New England Quarterly's Board of Directors, speaks with Mr. Naumec about his article, "From Mashantucket to Appomattox: The Native American Veterans of Connecticut's Volunteer Regiments and the Union Navy" in New England Quarterly, December 2008, Vol. 81, No. 4
http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/suppl/10.1162/tneq.2008.81.4.596


Eastern Pequot Archaeology
Stephen Silliman (UMass) Discusses His Work with the Eastern Pequot Archaeological Field School on WFUMB, FM 91.9, Boston.
http://www.faculty.umb.edu/stephen_silliman/Articles/WUMB%20Commonwealth%20Journal%20(May%202006).mp3

"Keeping The Native Nipmuc Language Alive"
Streaming audio. Feature story on NPR's All Things Considered, April 13, 2009. Part of a four-part series aired in conjunction with the PBS television series We Shall Remain.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=103028551

Indigenous Politics: From Native New England and Beyond
Audio series by Dr. J. Kehaulani Kauanui, of Wesleyan University. http://indigenouspolitics.mypodcast.com/
Includes discussions of regional interest, such as:
2-13-09 Crisis on the Schaghticoke Reservation
3-11-08 A Native American Affairs Commission in Connecticut?
2-26-08 Engaging Indigenous Critiques of Native New England History
2-19-08 Beyond Conquest: Rewriting Native Connecticut: Interview with Dr. Amy Den Ouden
10-16-07 Interview with Chief Richard Velky (Chief of the Schaghticoke Tribal Nation)

Native Studies Program at St. Thomas University, Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada
Features discussions of academic topics regarding Canadian First Nations.
http://www.nativestudies.org/works.html#audio

National Museum of the American Indian
Audio content regarding programming at the NMAI.
http://www.nmai.si.edu/podcasts/

Indian Country Headline News Podcasts
A weekly audio podcast, produced by Indian County Today, providing a summary of national news items important to Native communities.
http://www.podcastdirectory.com/podcasts/14818

United States, Department of the Interior Podcast
Look for information related to the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
http://www.doi.gov/news/audio/podcasts/index.html

Researching Native Americans in the Military

Spring and Summer Museum programming highlights the new Mashantucket Gallery exhibit titled, Pequot Lives in the Lost Century (opening May 16), and further explores the theme of “Indians in Unexpected Places.” Both reveal the various important yet little known societal roles played by Native people during the years 1870-1970. Not least among these is service to the United States armed forces.

Subject headings
The Library of Congress has assigned a variety of different subject headings on this topic, depending on the focus of the work. Following is a list of essential subject headings to explore in our Online Catalog.

United States -- History -- Revolution, 1775-1783 -- Participation, Indian
United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Participation, Indian
United States -- History -- War of 1812 -- Participation, Indian
Vietnamese Conflict, 1961-1975 -- Participation, Indian
World War, 1914-1918 -- Participation, Indian
World War, 1939-1945 -- Participation, Indian

Indian code talkers
Navajo code talkers
World War, 1939-1945 -- Cryptography

Indian scouts
Indian veterans

United States -- Armed Forces -- Indians
United States. Army -- Indian troops
United States. Marine Corps -- Indian troops

Bibliographies
We have also prepared the following bibliographies as guides to our resources.
For a bibliography of Research Library materials (books, articles, videos), please see
Native Americans in Foreign and Domestic Wars

For a bibliography of archival materials from our Archives & Special Collections, please see Bibliography of Native Americans in the U.S. Military

We Shall Remain, Premieres April 2009 on PBS

The We Shall Remain series, produced by American Experience in association with Native American Public Telecommunications for WGBH Boston, will premiere on PBS April 13, 2009. Episode 1, "After the Mayflower" focuses on the relationships between Wampanoag people and English colonists during the first years of contact. In support of the series, WGBH has produced an Event Kit for Libraries containing many great ideas for related library and school programming, including Guidelines for Evaluating Media About Native Peoples. These guidelines were adapted from the Mashantucket Pequot Museum & Research Center’s Evaluative Criteria for Books about Native Americans (2006), and the American Indian Library Association publication “I” Is For Inclusion: The Portrayal of Native Americans in Books for Young People (2007).

Download Guidelines for Evaluating Media About Native Peoples .

For a list of our resources related to the series, see
We Shall Remain Bibliography (Children's Library)
and We Shall Remain Bibliography (Research Library) .

Environment, Ecology, Conservation: 10 Books On Green Topics From Our Collection

This update finds us eagerly awaiting the coming of Spring, and with it, the return of green leaves to the trees of Mashantucket. In that spirit, we present here a resource list on environmentally related topics from our Research Library collection.

Biodiversity and Native America / edited by Paul E. Minnis and Wayne J. Elisens. Norman : University of Oklahoma Press, c2000.

Endangered peoples : indigenous rights and the environment.
Niwot, CO : University Press of Colorado, c1994.

Forests in time : the environmental consequences of 1,000 years of change in New England / edited by David R. Foster and John D. Aber. New Haven, Conn. : Yale University Press, 2004.

How can one sell the air? : Chief Seattle’s vision / author, Chief Seattle ; editors, Eli Gifford, R. Michael Cook, and Warren Jefferson ; illustrations by Eleanor Dale Evans, Jerry Hutchens, and Warren Jefferson. Summertown, Tenn. : Native Voices, c2005.

Answering Chief Seattle / Albert Furtwangler. Seattle : University of Washington Press, c1997.

American Indian literature, environmental justice, and ecocriticism : the middle place / Joni Adamson. Tucson : University of Arizona Press, 2001.

Closing the circle : environmental justice in Indian country / James M. Grijalva. Durham, N.C. : Carolina Academic Press, c2008.

A comparison of the biblical and Native American views of the human relationship with nature / Kay Mooney Cox. Thesis (Ph.D.) -- Graduate Theological Union, 1979.

Defending mother earth : Native American perspectives on environmental justice / edited by Jace Weaver. Maryknoll, N.Y. : Orbis Books, 1996.

Ecocide of Native America : environmental destruction of Indian lands and peoples / Donald A. Grinde, Bruce E. Johansen ; foreword by Howard Zinn. Sante Fe, N.M. : Clear Light, c1995.

Even more resources may be found by searching our Online Catalog. Some suggested keywords: "human ecology", "natural history", "biodiversity", "environmental protection".

Online Genealogist - New England Historic Genealogical Society

Just discovered an online service from the New England Historic Genealogical Society that may be of interest to some of our patrons:

http://www.newenglandancestors.org/research/services/online_genealogist.asp

"Longtime NEHGS staff member David Allen Lambert is now available to offer you research guidance, orientation to online resources and library-based collections via email. He also will facilitate referrals to specific NEHGS staff experts and departments when required. This position will offer a new way to serve members and potential members of NEHGS. You are invited to submit research questions to David Allen Lambert at onlinegenealogist@nehgs.org. Please note that he will make every effort to reply to each message, but will respond on a first come, first-served basis. In some cases he may need to refer individuals to the NEHGS Research Service for more in-depth research services for a fee."

Images from Special Collections now available on Flickr

»» http://www.flickr.com/photos/pequotmuseumlibrary/ ««

As part of our continuing efforts to reach out to remote patrons and provide access to our materials, we have set up three preliminary Flickr galleries, which offer a glimpse into our Special Collections. If you are unfamiliar with Flickr, it is one of the largest image hosting websites, as well as an online community which encourages interaction among its users. So far, the we have made "friends" with New Bedford Whaling Museum, the Smithsonian Institution, and the Beinecke Library (Yale University) .

At the time of this blog post, digital images of select items from our Engravings, Early Maps, and Popular Culture collections are currently on view, with more to come in the future. Be sure to stop in again for updates. Or, you may subscribe to our Flickr page via RSS: Link to RSS feed